Engineering & Construction

Engineering and constructrion companies have always valued the sharing and transfer of lessons learned and best practices from project to project. Most of their early efforts in knowledge management focused on leveraging knowledge in project management. And way back in the day, they relyed on the apprenticeship approach to develop the skills of tradecraft.

However, the high cost of having an extra pair of hands around to learn a trade, combined with the challenges of retaining knowledge from an aging workforce, requires better and more efficient ways to move new workers rapidly up the learning and performing curve. There's also the challenge of spending time for workers to learn, share and transfer knowledge.

New breakthroughs in learning and knowledge transfer are beginning to have an impact in some organizations. Early adopters of social media in conjunction with KM are finding ways to use micro-blogging, visualization and simulation to accelerate the development of new skills and deal with complex contruction challenges.

More and more of these organizations are also leveraging their investment in communities of practice and knowledge networks to strengthen relationships with their customers. The knowledge communities are not only accelerating the internal sharing and transfer of know-how and experience from engineers across sites and jobs...they are providing reach-back for customers, enabling them to tap the same wealth of knowledge that exists across the companies global workforce.

The demand for green engineering and construction practices and materials adds a new level of complexity and opportunity for companies in these industries. Knowledge management is one of the few enablers that can help craftsmen, engineers and organizations learn at the speed of change.

Contact us to explore how we can help you leverage the latest practices and experience in collaborative learning and knowledge management to meet your challenges in engineering and construction,